25 Days of Christmas - Season of Love
by TheTravelBug
Summary: 25 Days of Christmas with Castle and Beckett. Castle gives Beckett an Advent Calendar with little bits and pieces every day. How will she react to each of those items?
1. Day 1 Mistletoe

_**A/N:** I'm 20minutes late for the first one...oops. Oh well, somewhere in the world it is still the 1st of December so never mind. Anyway, this is my Castle story for the 25 Days of Christmas thingy on Tumblr. I've got the link in the Doctor Who Story, not going to put it up here as well. Is on celestialcow's tumblr though. Anyway, enjoy the short chapters filled with some Caskett goodness =)_

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Day 1 – Mistletoe

Even though it was a Saturday and she didn't have to go to work she woke up early and snuck out of bed. When she walked through his office she could see little bags hanging over the window and wondered what it could be. She craved for a coffee though so she ignored it for the moment and walked to the kitchen.

As she was sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for the coffee machine to warm up, she could hear the tapping of bare feet on the floor and she looked up.

"Why are you awake?" she asked softly.

"Because it got colder when you left," Castle replied sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "Is the coffee ready yet?" he added and she shook her head.

"But it should be in a bit. Go back to bed, I'll bring you one."

He smiled at her but walked towards her instead.

"Do you even realise what day it is today?"

"Anything special?"

"Really Kate? Of course it's special!"

"Did I forget something? Some important date or something?"

"It's the first of December!"

"So?"

"Christmas season has officially started!"

She laughed and shook her head. "No need to get so excited, Castle, it's only Christmas."

"It's _only_ Christmas?! It's the most glorious and joyous season of the whole year! And it is our first together! We have to celebrate it!"

She could see how he got all excited and smiled.

"Just because you're so overly thrilled about it I'm going to humour you."

He grinned at her, took her hand and dragged her towards the office; the coffee was forgotten for now.

In the office he turned on the light and turned her towards the window where she saw the bags again.

"What is it?" she asked.

"An Advent Calendar, obviously!"

"And?"

"It's for you…"

"Oh…but… Castle, you can't give me something every single day!" she protested immediately. Christmas wasn't really something she enjoyed anymore, not since it became the last memory she actually had of her mother, or almost the last one, and she'd kind of ignored the season for the past years. Of course she could've known how important it was for Castle but she didn't have anything for him and she felt a little bit bad. Castle however wouldn't take no for an answer and insisted on her having this Calendar. He also insisted it stayed where it was. It ensured that she'd come over every day. Not that that wasn't the case already.

"Look, it's nothing pricy in there. At least not all of it. Will you just open the first one, please?"

She sighed. "Fine, I'll open it…"

He led her to the red bags and she realised they were all numbered and not too big. That guaranteed her that the presents wouldn't be too expensive unless he was giving her jewellery which she would refuse to accept anyways. She looked for the number one and found it.

"When did you even put it up? I didn't see it last night…"

"I waited for you to fall asleep and then got back up to finish it," he replied with a grin on his face.

She smiled at him with a raised eyebrow and pulled on the string to open the bag. She could feel something strange inside and when she opened it to peer inside she could see that it was a little branch of something.

She looked at Castle who just smiled and walked over to his desk.

"That in there is just the symbol. This is the actual thing," he explained as he pulled out a mistletoe branch with a nice red bow around it out of his desk drawer.

Kate laughed a joyous laugh and walked over to him.

"What do you want with this? We really don't need mistletoe to kiss each other, now do we?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but it's romantic and you can put it up wherever you want to, even the precinct. Or you can move it around every day so we have to kiss in different places."

She shook her head in amusement. "You really are a hopeless romantic," she laughed and went to kiss him but he stopped her, holding the mistletoe in front of her.

"You're joking right. Do you only want to kiss me below a mistletoe branch now? Because if you do, you won't get even an attempt of a kiss anywhere else."

"As if you could manage that," he replied from behind the mistletoe but lowered the branch nonetheless, letting her kiss him tenderly.

"Can you put it up now?"

Kate laughed softly and nodded. "Close your eyes, I don't want you to know right now where it is."

He smiled and did as he was told while Beckett went to put the mistletoe somewhere suitable and when she returned she found him with his eyes still shut. She stepped closer, stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him again.

"Now it's time for coffee" she said softly after they parted and he nodded in agreement.

"First Christmas season as a couple. Should be fun, shouldn't it," he stated and Kate only took his hand and nodded.


	2. Day 2 Hot Chocolate

_**A/N:** Twenty minutes late again...I guess that's it then, you'll get this always twenty minutes late (for my time zone at least xD). Anyway, expect some cheesieness... I don't know what's up with me but I guess you might enjoy some fluff... Enjoy ;D_

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**Day 2 – Hot Chocolate**

It was Sunday morning and she was sitting in the precinct. There had been a very early call with a body drop and she hadn't had time to check the present for the second day yet. Castle was still at his loft, probably snoring away while she was busy making phone calls, checking alibies and nagging her best friend to hurry up with the lab results. She hadn't even had her coffee yet so she was grumpy. No, she wasn't, she just was in a bad mood because of lack of sleep, lack of coffee, lack of information on the case and mostly lack of Castle. When did she get so dependent on the guy? He still managed to get on her nerves – the Christmas Calendar was just one example for it – but he also managed to make her feel special all the time. When she'd first realised how much in love she was with him, it was like her whole universe shifted and placed him at the centre. He was her sun, her source of energy and her path to a happy life and it almost scared her as much as it did to make the dive in the first place.

The precinct wasn't very busy this morning, only her team and a couple of uniforms were around and even Captain Gates had showed up but that was that. It was quiet and it made it a lot harder to work. Normally the place was buzzing with busy workers, the rings of telephones, the cluttering of coffee cups in the break room and it was easier to erase these sounds than having almost complete silence.

Luckily for her the case wasn't a very hard one. In only two hours they managed to find two suspects who both looked good for the murder and she was almost certain that one of them would confess. She sent a text to Castle not to bother to come in just before she entered the interrogation room and questioned her suspect.

Forty-five minutes later she had a confession. An accident after a fight between friends that ended badly. By now, the precinct was more alive and as she was finishing up her report, she heard the sound of the elevator and saw Castle walking out of it.

He approached her with a warm smile and sat down in his usual spot, placing a cup of coffee in front of her.

"I thought I told you not to come in," she said smilingly and he shrugged.

"Thought you might need some cheering up on a Sunday like this."

"Thanks."

She picked up the coffee, very ready for a few drops of the black liquid that soothed her nerves and drank from it. She almost spat it out again because what she tasted was no coffee.

"Castle, why is there Hot Chocolate in my cup?"

"Because it's cold outside and I thought you might need a sweet good morning kiss."

"The coffee normally does that perfectly well," she whispered and looked sternly at him. There had been too much talk of kisses between them in the precinct already, it was getting a bit hard to deal with.

"You don't like Hot Chocolate?" Castle asked in surprise. How could anyone not like Hot Chocolate?

A tinkling laugh rolled off her tongue as she looked at him, her joy resonating in her eyes.

"Of course I like Hot Chocolate, I was just expecting coffee and it took me by surprise, that's all."  
Castle exhaled, relieved by her words.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. It's…Christmas-y. What's in there? Gingerbread? Cinnamon?"

"All of that. And marshmallows too."

Beckett beamed at him and opened the lid to see the marshmallows swimming in the chocolate and she grabbed one with her fingers and ate it happily.

"You could've waited with this at home for me. It won't take me too long to finish up here."

"Oh well, I just missed you."

She quickly put her hand on top of his and squeezed it before returning her focus on the computer screen to finish the report, sipping from her Hot Chocolate every now and then while Castle was watching her, playing the winter edition of Angry Birds on his phone.

Since she'd been on call for the weekend, she was allowed to go home after writing everything down so she wrote quickly and focused. After an hour she had everything done and put into the case boxes. She got up, let Castle help her into her coat and they went to his loft together. It had taken her all day to solve the case even though it was one of the quick ones but paperwork always took time and Castle wasn't really a big help. It was dark now and New York was ablaze with Christmas lights all over and it looked beautiful. The temperatures had dropped drastically in the past few days and both her and Castle were freezing by the time they got to his loft.

"I think we need another Hot Chocolate," he mumbled through clattering teeth.

"Definitely," she replied, "and I need to open my present from today."

He beamed at her at those words because it meant she had definitely accepted his calendar for her.

While he prepared the Hot Chocolate in the kitchen and the smell of it started to fill the loft, Beckett went to the office to find the second bag. It was a bigger one and looked rather square and when she took it out it was a mix CD of various Christmas songs, from classical ones to current ones to instrumental and a capella ones and she loved it already just by looking at the song list.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sitting on the couch, cuddled up with each other, the Hot Chocolate in their hands and the sound of her new CD filling the room through Castle's massive sound system and the feeling she had this morning when she thought about what Castle meant to her came back. He was her sun, he was her centre of the universe and he gave her everything she needed by being him.


	3. Day 3 Snow

_**A/N:** So...basically I'm off today cause the teachers have an inset day and I'm off to the cinema in a bit...going to see Great Expectations and Rise of the Guardians, yay. Anyway, that's the reason you get this now instead of late as the last two have been... I'm sorry I haven't had time to reply to your reviews yet, but I really appreciate them and you'll get an answer, promise =) Also, you guys are awesome, my mailbox is full with new people reading the story every day! THANK YOU!_

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**Day 3 – Snow**

It was still very cold when Beckett made her way to the precinct the next morning. She'd let Castle sleep since there was nothing to be done at the precinct except paperwork.

As she walked along the buildings she could smell the cold air mixed with the exhaust fumes of the cars. She wrapped her scarf a bit more tightly around her neck and took her gloves out of her coat pockets. The morning walk to the precinct was always a way to wake her up. It's not that she wasn't awake anyway but she enjoyed the (mostly) fresh air and the exercise and mostly the peace and quiet before the hectic day at work.

She was about ten minutes away from the twelfth when she could suddenly see something white fall down in front of her eyes. At first she thought it was a piece of ash or something but when the white became more and more she realised it had started to snow. It was the third of December and it had started to snow in New York City. A smile spread across her face and she held out her hands to catch a few snowflakes. The streets of New York were not cold enough though, to make the snow stick to the ground, so Beckett just enjoyed the dance of the snowflakes and walked to work.

Once she was at the precinct she didn't know what was happening outside, she had a few trials to prepare and was busy all day. Castle never showed up but sent her a text telling her he got all excited about the snow and that it inspired him to write.

At mid-day Beckett realised that she'd forgotten to open the third bag of the calendar and of course once she thought about it, it was stuck in her head and her thoughts wandered off every so often to think of what he'd given her now.

At some point in during the late afternoon, Lanie dropped by the precinct with a bag of food. Her friend always assumed that she didn't eat and even though she always denied it, Lanie was absolutely right. Once Beckett was working, she forgot about what a human being needed to do to survive.

"The streets are a nightmare," Lanie moaned before she even said hello, hair wet and little droplets of melted snow stuck to her coat. She shook both out and placed herself in Castle's seat.

"That bad?" her friend asked.

"The snow is sticking now. Imagine that. It's been snowing non-stop and it's getting worse and worse. By this rate, everything will be shut down by tomorrow, schools, streets, hopefully even the criminals of New York."

"I like your positive thinking Lanie, but good luck with that. Crime in this city never rests, especially not when everything else is down. Perfect time to murder someone, rescue will take ages to get there, so will the police. At least it explains why it is so loud here today."

Beckett let her eyes roam the bull pen. Her team was relatively idle compared to the rest and she heard some noise coming from the other floors too.

"Don't jinx it, my friend. I have plans for tomorrow night," Lanie said while placing the food in front of them.

Beckett raised an eyebrow at her friend, "Do you? Who with?"

"Need you ask?" Lanie replied and Beckett laughed. "Not really, no. Seems like the two of you are hitting it off again."

"Hm…maybe. We're moving on from bootie calls now…we'll see where it's going."

"Sounds good. So, what are you doing?"

"I don't know, it's a surprise."

"Oh, I'm going through the same thing…" Kate sighed. "Castle gave me an Advent Calendar and I have no idea what's in todays present. I never asked for the bloody thing. I feel like I should get him one too."

"Kate, stop right there. The guy loves to spoil you, just accept it, okay."

Kate laughed at her friend but Lanie knew it wasn't Beckett's thing to just accept something.

At that precise moment they were interrupted by someone clearing his throat and the girls looked up to find Castle standing there.

"I thought you were writing," Beckett exclaimed and he shook his head.

"Not anymore, we've got plans."

"Do we?"

"Yes, your present for today. You forgot it again, so here it is," he said and handed her the red bag.

Lanie just grinned at Beckett and excused herself while Beckett opened the sachet. It was a piece of paper and written on it were two words "_Christmas lights_".

"Christmas lights?" she asked and Castle nodded.

"You and I, we're going to have a walk and admire some people's Christmas lights. The snow will make it even more beautiful," he beamed at her and held her coat open for her. She could hardly refuse and after checking the time – 6.48pm – she decided she could go.

They took a taxi out of the city into one of the more urban places that had wonderful Christmas lights displayed and they walked hand in hand down the street. The lights reflected in the snow and made it look red and white and green and yellow and just like a wonderful piece of art. Since she and Castle got together, she'd had a lot of very happy days and again, this was no exception. She was so full of bliss that she reached down to grab some snow and threw it at Castle. His squeal of surprise made her laugh out loud until she had snow in her face herself. They started running down the streets together on opposite ends, picking up snow and throwing it at each other, squealing and laughing with delight.


	4. Day 4 Candy Canes

_**A/N:** Late again...oops... anyway. Here's day 4 with a little...twist...maybe...? ;D (Check at the end for a link to today's present)_

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**Day 4 – Candy Canes**

Just like Beckett had predicted, the fourth of December was a very busy day. She got called in to work at six in the morning, Castle grumbling beside her as the ringing of her phone yanked them out of their sleep.

"Don't take it," a sleepy voice mumbled but she'd already accepted the call and half an hour later she got out of the cab that had taken her from his loft to the crime scene in one a shop that at this time of year looked just like any other, covered in Christmas decoration that made it almost impossible for her to keep the stores apart.

Lanie was already at the crime scene, complaining to the body that it was really a bad time to drop dead and Beckett could see that Esposito had heard the words because he was smiling like a cheeky little boy who had opened his Christmas present early.

Castle arrived about fifteen minutes after her with a coffee for each of them in each of his hands and she smiled thankfully at him.

"Tell me it is coffee and not chocolate because I really need my coffee now…"

"Would I really bring you hot chocolate in the morning? Especially at something like 7 o'clock?"

She raised her eyebrow sceptically at him and he gave in.

"Okay, I would but it's not."

It took them a good hour to get all the witness statements and Lanie's preliminary report of the woman who apparently was the manager of the place.

They soon made their way to the precinct to set up the murder board and gather the team around it. They were all busy after the briefing, calling relatives, interviewing associates, possible suspects and Castle was as helpful as he always was.

The shop specialised in Christmas sweets during the holiday season and Miss Candace *Candy* Stockfield inherited it from her father ten years ago when she was 25 years old. She had a younger sister from her father's second marriage and that was all the relations she had left. Louisa wasn't very much saddened by the news of her sister's death but seemed to like the fact that she was getting some more money which obviously started Castle on some step-sisters tale that ended in the younger sister killing the older. However, that didn't work out, Louisa had a rock solid alibi and Candy had been a very private person so no one knew anything about her personal life. Her apartment didn't give much away either. It was nicely furniture, stylish but it didn't look like she was spending much time in there.

Back at the precinct Ryan was going over phone lists and found out Candy had been calling one number a lot more than others and he managed to figure out that it was the supplier. Castle and Beckett who were on their way back to the Precinct dropped by the suppliers headquarters to question Noah Trent. It turned out that he was Candy's secret boyfriend. He was pretty shaken by the news of his girlfriend's death so Beckett and Castle left him alone.

On the ride back, Castle fumbled in his coat pocket and fished two candy canes out of it.

"Candy cane?" he asked and Beckett threw a quick glance ant her partner.

"These are canes from Noah Trent's office."

"So?"

"You stole them?"

"Yeah," he answered with a cheeky grin.

"You stole them."

"So? It's not like he's going to miss them, he's got thousands of them in there."

"You stole them!"

"Oh come on Beckett, it's Christmas."  
"No it isn't. It's December. And even if it were Christmas, you don't steal on Christmas."  
"Two candy canes. That's all. Two. He would've offered them to children."

"And that makes it right?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. I am a kid on Christmas. During Christmas time."

"All the time. You're like a twelve year old I have to take care of. I don't even like Candy canes. They're way too sweet and you're not going to eat one either or you will be even more unbearable."

"Okay, you know what. We'll probably see him again anyway. So how about you take that cane now and I'll pay him back double?" Castle asked and looked at her with his big puppy eyes and she grumbled.

Her hand reached out and grabbed one of the canes out of his hand and he grinned.

"Don't think that makes it right," she said as she ripped the paper off the cane and then started to sulkily suck on it while watching the street.

She hadn't had a candy cane in years so she had to confess that she actually quite enjoyed the sugary treat.

The rest of the day was hectic. Their list of suspects grew and then shrunk, some alibies checked out and others crumbled but by the end of the day they weren't much closer to solving the case. Castle had a couple of chores to run that made him leave earlier. Before he left he waited for her to go to the break room and placed the fourth red sachet on her desk and then went home to get a few things for one of the presents ready.

Beckett found the empty chair ten minutes after Castle had left and was a bit surprised. Then she saw the little bag and smiled.

Carefully she opened it and out fell a little black box, tied with a white ribbon. It looked like a jewellery box and it made Beckett's heart go faster. She really didn't want any jewellery. She hardly ever wore any. Her father's watch and her mother's ring were about it so she didn't quite know how Castle thought it was a good idea to give her jewellery. Nonetheless she opened it and found a gold chain with a little gold elephant charm and a note.

_You can wear it on the same chain as your mum's ring or on this one. I know you don't wear a lot of jewellery but I thought you might want to wear something that reminds you of me ;)_

She sometimes really hated the man. He knew her too well, she didn't want a necklace, she was a cop and she didn't like to have stuff hanging around her neck, her wrist or anywhere that might distract her but the way he put it she had no choice. It wasn't that she needed something that was from him, she had him around all the time but the gesture was sweet.

When she went home two hours later she still hadn't decided what to do with the necklace and she needed a night alone. A necklace wasn't much but it was a different gift then the last three…

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_Believe me, I don't plan her moods... I know roughly where the whole thing is going but I really don't plan her mood swings, they just come. But don't worry, tomorrow is already here (well, the day, not the story...). You'll get some conclusion in the next chapter. Also, I'm letting you know that I have all the presents sorted since Sunday. I might get influenced by last nights episode a bit (maybe that's where the mood swings come from xD) but yeah, I'll roughly stick to my ... "plan"._

_http: 007 /0/6911292 /il_570xN.377370598_4akk. jpg take out all the spaces for a look ;)_


	5. Day 5 Christmas Tree

_**A/N:** You have no idea how tired I am the past few days. My eyes wanted to close and have me rest for the last two hours but I made myself finish this chapter so here you go. Enjoy. I kinda like it even though I feel like it's all over the place...xD_

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**Day 5 – Christmas Tree**

It was about nine o'clock when Castle came into the precinct with her coffee in his hand. She'd been here for a good two hours already, working the case and wrecking her brain about that calendar. She wasn't lying when she told Lanie she felt a bit bad about it. Her friend may be right, Castle did love to spoil her but she wasn't the kind of girl who wanted to get spoiled so much. Especially not when it came to Castle. He already spoiled her rotten without these presents. The first three presents she could easily accept. They were sweet and thoughtful and didn't cost money. And she did have to confess that she really enjoyed all that. It had been way too long since she enjoyed the Christmas season. Her mum's death anniversary followed too closely so that for years she'd associated Christmas with the loss of her mother so this was actually quite a step for her. And the necklace was a different story from those other presents. About half an hour before Castle arrived, she decided to put it on and see what it would feel like and as Castle arrived, he noticed it immediately.

"You're wearing it! I didn't think you would."

"I didn't either," she replied with an apologetic smile. "It's really sweet, Castle. But can you promise me one thing? No more jewellery. It makes me feel… pressured and I don't want to feel this way because I fear that the wall would just come back up in a different way and I don't want that."

He nodded as he sat down and then looked at her. "I'm going to tell you how I got it though because I don't want you to think that I set out to buy a necklace for you. I knew you wouldn't want to accept it but I was buying Christmas presents for Alexis and mother and I saw this and it reminded me of you and your love for elephants and I decided to give it to you." The '_and your love for me_' was heavily implied in the sentence but neither Beckett nor Castle said anything about it. It wasn't really necessary for them to say the words, Beckett had still not said them but she told him in so many other ways.

After this it was clear for both of them that she'd accepted the necklace and that she would wear it. The chain was long enough so she could hide it if she wanted to because it was a little bit kitsch if she was honest.

They spent the rest of the day working on the case again. More suspects alibied out and witness statements started to make less sense every now and then. In the early afternoon they had a break through as someone recognised Candy's sister as Noah's girlfriend and from there on it wasn't hard to put two and two together. Louisa had always been mad at Candy for having inherited the shop, especially since it was thriving and she knew that Candy had to die so she'd be the only family left and therefore the shop would come into her possession. She plotted together with her boyfriend and they decided to con her half-sister. They made her fall for Noah – which she did – and once she trusted him well enough, he killed her. However, he told the Detectives that he'd actually fallen in love with Candy but that she'd found out about him and Louisa so she wanted to break it off and he got angry and shoved her. He said it was an accident. Nonetheless, Beckett arrested him and that was that.

She was still working on the paperwork when Castle sighed excessively and she looked up.

"What?"

"Can we go now? There is another red bag waiting at home for you and you need to open it a bit earlier today…"

"You didn't bring it?"

"Well yeah… figuratively speaking it's on the calendar but I've got it here."

"Well, then give it to me and I'll decide if we can go."

He hesitated but handed her the sachet anyway.

Beckett pulled out a little piece of paper with a Christmas Tree painted on it and in Castle's handwriting it said '_You need one'_ .

"No I don't," she said without even looking up.

"Beckett…"

"No Castle, I am not having a Christmas Tree. What for?! I'm never at home anyway. Either I'm here or I'm with you or I get home late and drop into bed without even turning on the lights."

"I'm not taking no for an answer on this one. Look, I don't care if you only get a little one but if we're staying at your place during December I want a Christmas Tree there at some point."

Beckett grumbled at him, "Make you a deal. We go look for one but you won't make me have one if I don't want one."

"Deal," he said, happy about the fact that he got her even this far.

It was already darkish when they got the Christmas Tree sale but they walked around and looked at all the different trees and it smelled like a pine tree forest and Beckett got overwhelmed by the need of having this feeling at her place as well. In the end she found a small tree that fitted on a side table and that she could live with. She had no idea how happy she made Castle with it. Although, she did know because he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat and almost jumping around with joy. He was kind enough to carry the tree to her apartment and inside and as she turned on the lights, he put the tree down next to the entry and looked at her.

"You took it home with you?!" he asked a bit astonished and at first she thought he meant the tree so she threw a confused look at him.

He laughed and pointed to the ceiling where the mistletoe from the first day was hanging and where they both stood under it at this moment.

Beckett chuckled and stepped a little closer to him, looking him into the eyes with a cheeky smile and mischief in her eyes.

"Looks like I did," she breathed. Castle put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, so that their bodies pressed flush against each other and then he kissed her eagerly. Kate responded just as eagerly and as they made their way towards the bedroom the tree lay forgotten by the entry door.


	6. Day 6 Angel

_**A/N:** I've got this Unlimited Card for the cinema which allows me to basically go to the cinema as many times as I like without having to pay more than 15 pounds so my friend and I decided to go yesterday and well, when I got back I was really tired and only managed to write half the chapter before I almost fell asleep. That's why you get a chapter now and hopefully one in the evening. I'm off Christmas-shopping in a bit so I won't promise anything..._

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**Day 6 – Angel**

Beckett woke in the early morning, a few minutes before her alarm would've gone off. She smiled over at Castle who was stirring. He'd started to get used to her sleeping or rather waking schedule and often woke shortly after her now.

Beckett leaned on her elbow, head in her hand, and just watched him. After a couple of minutes he squinted at her through sleepy eyes und grumbled into his pillow because he was lying face down. Then he lifted his head a little to check the time and let his head drop back onto the pillow, grumbling some more while Kate just smiled tenderly at him.

She reached out to him and pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and then rested her hand on his cheek. It still amazed her to have this face as the first face she saw in the morning, to have him so close and all to herself. Her thumb rubbed softly over his cheeks and he smiled into her hand, turning his head to kiss it.

Her eyes fluttered and she smiled some more before she leaned down to place a kiss on his bare shoulder, her hand moving from his cheek to his back.

"I have to get ready for work, want to join me?" she asked and tipped her head towards the bathroom.

"You go ahead, I'll join you in a second," he managed to mutter through his sleepiness as she got up and hurried to the bathroom.

She showered (he didn't join her), brushed her teeth and when she got back into her room Castle was back asleep which wasn't surprising. He very often fell back asleep so Beckett just got dressed, walked up to him and leaned down to kiss him again.

"I'm going to work, are you coming in today?"

He mumbled something she didn't understand before he tried to open his eyes again.

She looked at him, an eyebrow raised and he nodded.

"Later. And keep your evening free," Castle managed to say

"Do we have plans I don't know about?"

"Hm-hm," he just replied and closed his eyes again.

Shaking her head but smiling, she walked through her apartment, grabbed her coat and her keys and walked to the door. There she saw the little Christmas Tree lying untouched on the floor and she smiled. It was only the sixth of December, there was plenty of time to put it up.

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Their day passed slowly – Castle joined her a couple of hours later – because there wasn't anything to be done. The twelfth precinct seemed to be in a quiet area at the moment where murder wasn't the first thing on people's minds so Beckett had time to catch up on paperwork while Castle watched or annoyed her. The boys had been requested to help the robbery department with one of their cases so they were in and out all day and at some point Castle decided to leave the precinct to get some writing done at home. As the afternoon slowly came to an end, Beckett got more and more bored by the silence in the bullpen – that was to say, the silence of the people who were normally around her, the rest was still more or less busy – and she thought about calling it a day and going home.

When her phone went off ten minutes later and the caller ID said Castle, she quietly laughed at his impeccable timing.

"I was just about to finish off here and coming home," she greeted.

On the other side of the line, Castle smiled to himself. She'd said home. And he knew she meant his loft and not her apartment. She said home.

"Well, I've got something else for you. Meet me outside the precinct in 15?"

"Uh, sure?" she replied questioningly. She really wasn't the biggest fan of surprises but she went along for his sake.

So fifteen minutes later she was standing outside in the cold, her scarf wrapped tightly around her, arms crossed and hands in gloves as the snow was starting to fall again.

Castle came up in a taxi and waved her over. She hurried to get in and he smiled widely at her.

"So, where are we going?"

"You'll see," he responded and gave the taxi driver an address.

"It's todays 'present'" he explained.

"I don't get to open it then?"

"We'll, if you insist…" He handed her the little sachet – of course he'd taken it with him – and she opened it to find another piece of paper and it said '_Let's be angels tonight'_ .

"What? Are we going to dress up as angels or what?" she asked teasingly but he shook his head.

"Although, I did think about getting you stuff from Victoria's Secret and have you dressed up as one of her angels…"

"Oh, you would've liked that, would you…"

"Very much" he said willingly and with a roughish smile.

"You should've done it then," Beckett mocked, her expression equally mischievous as his and he Castle just stared at her wide eyed and unable to form a coherent sentence.

"I…you…Still…"

Beckett laughed at him, leaned over and planted a kiss on his half open mouth. It only helped him recover a bit but at least he managed to speak again – almost.

"I…I thought maybe, you know, doing something…uhm…good…might uh, suit the season…better?"

Kate chuckled and nodded. "I'm sure whatever you've got planned is fine."

As the taxi driver – who had thrown a delighted look into the back mirror every now and then – stopped in front of homeless shelter, it started to dawn on Beckett what Castle was planning.

"We're helping out tonight?" she inquired and Castle nodded.

"It's something I normally do with Alexis but since she's not here I asked her if it was alright if I brought you along. She's going to do it with some of her friends so she had no problem with it."

Beckett beamed at him. "This is a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed and got out of the car.

"Hang on, not so quick," Castle called after her as she was about to stride into the shelter.

He opened the taxis trunk and got a few bags full of food out and Beckett beamed even more. He still managed to astonish her with his thoughtfulness and as she went up to help him, she placed both her hands on either side of his face and looked him deeply into his eyes.

"You are wonderful, you know that?" she tenderly cooed and kissed him softly.

Castle looked pleased and then nodded, "For you I'd be anything."


	7. Day 7 Pie

_**A/N:** Somewhere in the world it's still the seventh of December. Anyway... the pie got a bit lost in the story... I was in a writing flow and kind of forgot about the day's word. But I still hope you'll enjoy it =) And wow, the amount of feedback I get from you guys through reviews and subscriptions and everything...it's amazing! Thank you!_

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**Day 7 – Pie**

On the seventh day of December both Castle and Beckett woke up tired. They'd spent a good four hours at the shelter, cooking and handing out food to the homeless who could not have been more grateful. They'd very often glanced at each other while filling a soup bowl and smiled because there was no better feeling than helping others and doing it together made it even more special. While watching the people who came to get some food – sometimes mother's with two or three children who looked very cold – Beckett wished there was more that she could do and out of the blue Castle would fish an old children's coat out of a bag – sometimes even a new one – and gave it to them. It was heart-warming to watch and Beckett was glad she was there to see it all.

When she woke up to the sound of her alarm though and found it hard to open her eyes, she almost regretted being there for so long. Her job was exhausting sometimes, mentally and physically, but helping at the shelter brought her to a whole different level of exhaustion. She stretched and yawned and then managed to sit up, get up and get ready.

She was in the kitchen preparing her morning coffee when Castle scuffled in with his blue morning gown, hair tousled and eyes sleepy.

"Ryan called you," he told her and sat down at the kitchen counter, "You've got a new case."

"You picked up my phone?" she asked and he nodded.

"And you didn't think you could just leave it?"

He shook his head. "I saw it was Ryan calling so I answered because I thought it might be a new case and therefore important."

"It could've been someone else…" Beckett grumbled.

"Like who, Gates? On Ryan's phone. No. Kate, you're overreacting."

"It's my phone…"

"It's early in the morning."

"So?"

"We both haven't had our coffee yet, we're both tired. Let's not talk about this right now."

"Fine. But since you already answered the call you could at least tell me where we have to go…"

Being tired really wasn't the best thing for their relationship. Then again, at the moment it was only one of the few things that could make them have an argument if you could call this as such.

They got to the crime scene about ten minutes apart from each other, Castle handing her a coffee (her second one) and her taking it but not really acknowledging him. It was her phone and it could've been Gates and what then? She wasn't angry at him for picking up her phone as such, she was angry at him for being careless. She really wanted to keep working with him, they were a good team, good partners and she didn't want to lose that. Over the years she'd learned to trust him with her life if necessary and if they got found out, he might not be allowed to shadow her anymore and she'd get a new partner and with her trust issues it wouldn't be easy and she just really wanted him to be more careful.

"Looks like a mugging gone wrong."

Castle's voice dragged her out of her thoughts and she looked from him to the victim and then to Perlmutter who was the acting ME for this case.

"I see Mr Tag-along is still around…" the ME remarked grumpily as always and made Beckett hide a smile.

Meanwhile, Castle tried to not look surprised because he should really be used to it by now. The ME however informed Beckett that it indeed looked like a mugging but that he had to get the body to the morgue for closer examination first.

The day passed on with her team digging up information on the dead guy and waiting for Perlmutter's report, that later in the day confirmed that it indeed looked like a mugging. The victim had been stabbed about 8 times with something like a small kitchen knife, his money, his ID, his mobile and keys, everything was gone.

The fingerprints luckily spat out an identity. Samuel Carlson, 45 years old, had a drunk/driving record which was why they could find him in the database.

The day ended with her team around the murder board, agreeing on the fact that finding his killer wouldn't be easy since it was a mugging.

When Castle and Beckett got back to the loft at 8pm, they were both still tired and even a bit more exhausted then in the morning. They soon dropped onto the sofa with a glass of wine and a piece of mince pie in their hands and that's when Beckett remembered the calendar in the other room. She got up again and went to get it and because she was curious she opened the sachet on her way back.

It was another of his paper notes written in his handwriting and it said '_Wait a minute'_.

Beckett raised an eyebrow at him, hinting at him to not make her wait longer than a minute and he sprang up – almost spilling his wine – and ran to his office. She could hear drawers getting opened and when he finally got back, he was holding something behind his back.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Something you can put up at home or maybe in the precinct someday… " he replied and brought out a picture frame with a photo of himself, one that was probably taken for the back of one of his books but it looked wonderful and Beckett just smiled.

"I'm sorry", she said as she sat down again.

"What for?"

"Snapping at you this morning. You were just being helpful and wonderful as usual."

"No Kate, you were right, I shouldn't have picked your phone up like that. I'll be more careful in the future."

She smiled. "Still, I don't know how I deserve you. I'm just afraid that this, us, that it's going to go wrong and I don't want that to happen but if Gates finds out we're screwed and…"

"Kate," he interrupted, "we're both kind of in new territory here. We're both afraid but it's not going to go wrong because we're good together. You know we are."

She nodded. "I guess we are…"


	8. Day 8 Tinsel

_**A/N:** I've mentioned it in the other Christmas fic too, I've had a crazy weekend... been busy with Christmas shopping and baking and all sorts of things and next weekend isn't going to be any better cause I'm in Birmingham for a Convention and yeah... you'll just get more than one chapter in a day I guess... ;D Enjoy =) (Oh yeah, that reminds me... I had to do some research for this one... I was a newby to the film I mention in the chapter but oh, I loved it!)_

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**Day 8 – Tinsel**

Kate had been working all throughout Saturday to catch the killer of the mugging gone wrong and only thanks to her wonderful team did they manage to wrap up the case at the end of the day. The thief had stroked again in the afternoon and because Ryan and Esposito had been helping out in the robbery department and got information about cases they had they'd managed to establish a connection by the way the thief robbed his victims and after they'd put a bolo out on the guy it only took about an hour to find him and arrest him. He was easy to crack, murder wasn't his thing, he just panicked and ran away because after all, he did steal something and he was afraid of going to jail. Obviously, that's where he was heading now but because he didn't resist his arrest and made a full confession, he wouldn't get a full murder charge and would mainly have to answer for his robberies.

Castle had stayed for the interrogation but he'd disappeared soon after that and only told Kate to go back to her place. (Yeah, he'd convinced her to give him a key since she very often left the place before him… it had taken him a while though but it came in handy for days like this one.)

Once she'd finished up the paper work, she shut down her computer screen, grabbed her coat and left the building. She was on call the next day and she really hoped she could enjoy a day off with Castle. After being bitchy the day before she felt like she owed an apology even though she'd already said she was sorry. Him giving her a picture of himself had made her laugh. It was so typical. His confidence of being ruggedly handsome – which he was – and him wanting her to be able to look at his wonderful face whenever she wanted to…yeah, it had really made her laugh and also realise that she was being silly over little things. They could not argue about little things, it was too early in their relationship. Little things came to people who didn't think a relationship was important enough, one that was based on nothing but their relationship was built on so much. Trust, compassion, lust, partnership and not to forget love to name only a few. They really shouldn't be fighting about little things. That's why she was looking forward to a quiet Sunday with her boyfriend where they could just enjoy each other without being around other people.

For now though, there was a free Saturday evening and she hadn't opened her calendar "door" yet.

When she opened the door to her apartment she was greeted by the smell of candle's and mulled wine and Castle had put up her Christmas tree already.

"Hi there," he uttered and took her coat, "I thought since you're not home that often we – well I – could put up your tree already so you get the most out of it…"

"It looks…wonderful…" she mused and examined the tree.

"I think you could've gone lower on the tinsel though…" Beckett teased and made Castle pout.

"I thought it looked very bleak before so I decided to put up some more, but if you don't like it, I can put it away again…"

"No, Castle, it's perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"However, I don't think that's my present for today, is it?"

Castle grinned and shook his head. "See, you do like my calendar. You just wanted to resist, but you like it too much to still do that," he teased and Kate rolled her eyes. Castle was right though. She really enjoyed the presents and the attention. They made her feel safe and loved and cared for – all the things he made her feel anyway but with the calendar it was kind of more specific.

"Let me get it for you," he told her and went to the kitchen to get a cup of mulled wine and the red bag. She took both off him and together they sat down on her sofa and clinked their cups.

"This wine smells delicious!" Beckett observed as she sniffed the fumes.

"Let's hope it tastes as well too…"

Both of them sipped from it and were surprised by how strong the wine was but it really did taste as lovely as it smelled. Beckett made herself a bit more comfortable on the couch and then opened her present. It was a picture of Donna Reed kissing James Steward, it was actually the cover picture of '_It's a Wonderful Life'_.

She hesitated before looking up because she feared what this might mean. She couldn't avoid eye contact forever though so she looked at Castle who immediately knew that something was wrong.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You were planning on watching it, weren't you…" she stated and Castle nodded.

"Not a good idea?"

"It's just…I haven't watched this movie in years. In fact, I haven't seen it since my mother died. It was a family tradition, like it probably is for a lot of families, but it was special to me. It was always mum and me, baking cookies and decorating the living room while watching this film and I have so many memories attached to it… Sometimes it feels like my mum was George. She helped so many people, touched their lives, gave them another chance and her life was taken away too early but there wasn't a nice guardian angel protecting her. She may not have chosen to give God's greatest gift away as they say in the film but her life was taken and I it just makes me wonder who else she would've been able to touch with her being, who else she could've helped and how wonderful our lives could've been."

Castle just sat there and listened attentively. Even though they'd been together a while now, it still amazed him when she opened up, especially concerning her mother and he treasured every moment because it meant she trusted him completely and she knew he'd understand.

He reached his hand out to brush away a tear that was falling down her cheek and Beckett swallowed and twitched at his touch. She hadn't realised that she was crying and felt a bit ashamed because it was only a memory.

"Kate," he said, making her look at him. "It's all right. We don't have to watch it. I am sorry I didn't think of something like this, I could've guessed, but it's all right, really."

Beckett nodded and leaned into his touch. "I'm sorry Castle. I know I'm not the easiest person to have around with all my worries and I don't know what…"

"You don't have to apologise Kate, I love you the way you are, with all the baggage that comes with it and all the stories. The first time we met and you asked me why I was there I told you it was for the story. It is not for the story anymore, it is about the story. It's the story that makes you who you are and if you don't want to watch the movie now, we don't have to. If you ever feel like it though, I'll be here to hold your hand if you need me to."

She gave him a weak smile and mouthed a 'Thank you', before she rested her head on his shoulder.


	9. Day 9 Ice Skating

_**A/N: **Sometimes I check my word count and think, oh, I need to write more… and the next time I check I have more than 1000. Oh well, never mind xD Enjoy Castle and Beckett on the ice =D_

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**Day 9 – Ice Skating**

They woke up on Sunday morning without having seen the movie but neither of them was unhappy about it. Beckett was awake before Castle, as always but she stayed in bed and read while listening to Castle's steady breathing. At some point she wanted to get up so she hopped into the shower. He woke up at around nine and heard the water in the bathroom running. Assuming she'd be almost done anyway, he got up and stumbled into the kitchen to get the coffee machine running and get some breakfast together. He was almost done when he heard her hair dryer and ten minutes later Beckett came out of the bedroom with half dry, half wet hair and Castle had breakfast ready. He had just managed to get todays present onto her plate and it was almost the first thing she noticed – the first thing being fresh coffee.

"You've got it here already?" she yawned and kissed him good morning.

He nodded. "But I have to tell you something. I really hope you'll come along... What I mean is, it might be, I don't know… tied to some memories too but…you know…"

"Look at that, the great writer, lost for words… If you just let me open it, I can tell you what to say…"

Castle nodded again and let Beckett open the sachet. She drew out two tickets to the ice rink at Central Park and a huge smile spread across her face.

"Oh my god, Castle. This is wonderful! I haven't been to the ice rink in so long!"

"You're not… like yesterday with the film…? Cause I remember those pictures of you when you went ice skating with your mom before she died and…"

"No Castle, this is different. I only have joyful memories connected with this and I would absolutely love to go there with you. When are we going? And how long?"

After what happened the night before, Castle was a bit flabbergasted by her reaction. He had almost changed the gift because he'd thought it might have been too much but Beckett looked genuinely excited about it so he smiled happily and answered, "This afternoon at four and we can stay for almost three hours."

"This is so lovely, Castle, thank you!" she chimed and took a sip from her coffee.

After Castle got ready, they went out and spent the day wandering through New York, getting some Christmas shopping done, having a look at all the lovely Christmas decoration in stores and at three they entered Central Park to go to the ice rink. They got their ice skating shoes, geared up and at four they were let onto the ice rink.

Kate immediately glided over the ice as if she did it every day and Castle watched her with delight.

"Come on!" she called for him and at first he was a bit unsteady on the ice but he quickly got used to it and joined her. She was waiting for him, her hand ready to grab his and he was happy to take it.

"When was really the last time you were on the ice?" he asked and she giggled.

"It really has been a while, I swear. But I've always loved doing it. You know, when I was little I had lessons. Pirouettes, jumps, turns, I learned them all. I was never as good as the kids who were trained to do it but I wasn't too bad either and I guess it's just something like riding a bicycle. Once you're able to do it, you never forget."  
"Tell that my legs. I've done it many times when Alexis was little but it seems like I'm getting old…"

"That must be it. Yeah, you do look like an old man trying to not topple over on even ground," she teased and laughed. It made Castle competitive though and he let go of her hand, starting to get some speed. Beckett of course accepted the challenge willingly and raced after him and even though there were quite a lot of people on the rink, they had enough space to race around it, Beckett winning by a good length.

"Okay fine, I give up. You win. I'm old."

She laughed and skated over to him, almost bumping into him.

"I don't care how old you are," she breathed and kissed him. She could feel his smile under their kiss and smiled in return.

"You do know we're in public, right?" he asked after they parted and Beckett nodded.

"So what?"

"What if someone recognises me?"

"Then they'll think that you're here with your girlfriend."

"And what if they recognise you?"

"How could they?"

"From that magazine article years ago?"

"Exactly. Years ago. I looked completely different back then."  
"And what if someone takes a picture?"

"Castle, shut up. If you're so worried, you shouldn't have taken me here in the first place. And tonight I don't care if anyone sees us, I'm just having a great time so come on, old man, let's have some fun," she replied and took his hand again.

Together they glided over the ice, Castle getting better with every length and after about an hour they were both steady on their feet, Kate sometimes twirling around Castle but they hardly ever let go of each other's hands.

They took a break at some point. Three hours on the rink was quite a long time and Castle wasn't quite as fit as Beckett was – although, since joining her precinct, he'd had to speed up a lot with all the running they did.

The rest of the time they happily skated over the ice and no one stopped them and asked who they were or screamed because they recognised either of them. However, neither Castle nor Beckett noticed the pair of eyes that was watching them spinning over the ice and exchanging the eventual kiss, they were blissfully unaware of them, which was probably a good thing or their night would've ended a lot different than it did.


	10. Day 10 Frost

_**A/N:** Like I said in the other Christmas fic, I am way too busy right now to update daily…I hope I'll manage two chapters tomorrow but I can't promise so yeah… enjoy whenever you can…if you can…According to your reviews and alerts and favouriting and stuff you do enjoy it which makes me very happy. So, go on and enjoy some more. Also, JennaBennet, I'm sorry you didn't get this before you left but you know, I do have work to do during the day :P I'll see you son =)_

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**Day 10 – Frost**

Sometimes winter in New York was no fun at all. Sometimes it could get not only below freezing and snowy and all but actually really cold and frosty and misty and it wasn't nice at all. Today was one of these days. The fog was hanging low, the sun literally had no chance at all to get through all the clouds and the water drops and the snow was getting really dirty now and to make matters worse frost had covered everything overnight.

The streets were very slippery and Beckett had to watch every single step that she made to not fall over (she'd very irrationally put on her heels because they were comfy and warm but not the best thing to walk on slippery ground…).

What bothered Beckett the most though was the fact that it wasn't even a nice and dry cold but a very humid one. Cloths didn't help against it because the little water drops in the fog managed to get through every single pore of every single piece of clothing and it made her shiver.

The precinct didn't help much either. It was warm and heated and nice but her clothes didn't really warm up and all she wanted was a nice cup of coffee or even chocolate made or brought by Castle just because he could warm her up with just a look but he wasn't there yet so she just got up and made her own cup.

He came in about two hours after her. She really didn't know why he always came in so late. There was literally nothing to do for the guy at home. He wasn't even writing even though he should and he woke up with her, sometimes even got up with her and yet he was always two hours later than her.

"Jeez, it's freezing…" he moaned and sat down while moaning some more.

"Are you all right?" she asked and he shook his head.

"My legs hurt…"

"What, from the ice rink?"

"Don't laugh. They feel terrible, like a stick has been rammed into them and I can't do anything with them any more…"

"Aw, you poor soul you."

"Sounds like you're perfectly fine…" he grunted and Beckett laughed.

"Of course I am. I am exercising enough to not get muscle pain."

Castle grumbled some more and didn't realise that Gates was standing behind him. Beckett only just noticed too and her heart skipped a beat. How much had the Captain heard?

"So…you went to the ice rink?" Gates asked and Beckett wanted to sink into a whole in the ground and Castle actually jumped up a bit.

"We uhm…I…I mean, I…"

Gate's scrutinised him with a judging look like she so often did and Castle had a hard time finding the words he wanted so Beckett helped him out.

"Yes Sir, we were ice skating. He initially wanted to go with his daughter but Alexis was busy with her friends so he asked me because he knows that I am quite fond of ice skating and we didn't want to waste those tickets so we went."

Gates looked from Castle to Beckett and back, her eyebrows raised and Beckett was sure she wasn't going to let it go but the Captain finally sighed silently and shook her head.

Beckett released a breath she didn't realise she was holding and then asked, "Is there anything you wanted, Sir?"

"What? Oh, yes. You've got a cold one," Gates informed her and gave her the address to the murder scene.

The frost was still covering everything and the drive to the scene was a nightmare but they eventually made it, got all the information, rode back and started their investigation. It was a day like every other at the twelfth and in the evening Kate was looking forward to her present. She'd opened the little bag in the morning and out fell a bubble that you could throw into water to make a bubble bath and she really needed a bath after being cold all day.

Beckett had told Castle to go home earlier not because of the bubble bath – although that was part of the reason – but because she could feel Gate's eyes on them. She feared that her Captain was suspecting something and they needed to make her realise that everything was the same old, same old.

When she got back to the loft a couple of hours later she could smell the bubble bath as soon as Castle opened the door for her.

"Lavender…" she recognised and he nodded.

"I thought you might have guessed the present and it's all ready for you. All you need to do is slip into the warm water and enjoy."

"That sounds absolutely wonderful. Thank you, Castle."

"Anytime."

"You know what though?"

"No…"

"Are your legs still hurting?"

"Yeah…nothing's changed…"

She smiled cheekily and leaned closer to him, her lips over his ears and she whispered, "You know…a hot bath might just do the trick," and she could hear him catch his breath.

Beckett laughed quietly, took Castle's hand and dragged him to the bathroom where everything was covered in Christmas confetti and the tub was full of bubbles once they both got rid of their clothes they slipped into the warm water, relaxing their muscles and enjoying the warmth.


	11. Day 11 Eggnog

_**A/N:** I'm going to be a walking zombie tomorrow at work and that's so not good. Thursday is my worst day, I have five groups of two and tomorrow I got 6 of them and it is so hard to listen for a full 30 minutes and ask the right questions when you're so tired...but hey, you get the two chapters ;D (I'm going to the theatre tomorrow evening but I'll try to write the next chapter...By then I'll have someone tell me personally to do it, right ;D_

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**Day 11 – Eggnog**

Castle was a master of parties, he seriously loved to throw them and even though Halloween and Christmas were rather close, they were far enough apart to get a party each and this year was no different.

He'd been planning and organising it for weeks. The thing was, this year he wanted to have his weekends with Kate if they weren't working so he decided to have it during the week and even though he loved big parties, he wanted a smaller one this year, his Halloween party had been a bit too much even for his taste and having the event during the week would ensure him to have less guests.

The problem at the moment was that their new case was getting a bit tricky. The dead guy who went by the Name of Tristan Kimps had been a perfect citizen. He worked for a bank, never got into any trouble, had the perfect fiancé, the perfect house and everything with one tiny problem, he turned up dead. As the team dug deeper and deeper into his life they found more and more inconsistencies and the more people they asked about Tristan's life, the more they realised that he was very deep in trouble. Lanie called and told them that she'd found drugs in his system and then they happened to stumble upon a piece of information that told them the ugly truth. Tristan had become a drug smuggler in the past two years and he'd made quite the fortune out of it.

His girlfriend knew nothing about it, said they'd always been okay with cash but never to the extent of where they could just spend it without thinking too much and especially with the wedding coming up and all.

In the afternoon they concluded that the question was whether he had been killed because of something he did with the drugs or because of what his part-time job was. Castle was getting a bit itchy by then because he needed to get home to finish the preparations for the party but with the case still going he didn't want to leave either because knowing the team he feared they wouldn't show up.

"Go home, Castle." Beckett had read his thoughts but he just shook his head.

"Then you'll all work through the night and the reason I'm having a party will be gone anyway so I can just stay here instead."

The detectives exchanged grinning looks with each other before Esposito turned around to face Castle.

"Bro, we're not going to miss out on a party. We can party after work."

"What, at two when you finally think it might be helpful to go home?"

"No…make you a deal…" Ryan said but looked at Beckett to see if she was okay with it. He didn't think she'd mind because both Esposito and Ryan had noticed that she was a lot more easy-going since (finally) getting together with Castle so as expected she just shrugged her shoulder and gave him the 'go ahead' look.

"'kay, make you a deal. If we don't get a solid lead until…let's say…"

"Nine," Beckett interrupted and Ryan nodded, "until nine, we'll drop everything and come to your party."

"Eight."

"No, I said nine and it stays nine, Castle…"

"Oh come on, Kate. Half eight? It's a week day, people aren't going to stay until four like they did on Halloween."

"One will definitely stay longer."

Ryan smirked at his partner who had so nonchalantly mad that remark and got a pencil thrown at him from Beckett for it.

"Well, it's true, isn't it."

"Anyway," Castle interrupted, "half eight. Or I won't leave."

The boys looked at Beckett again before she finally gave in. "Fine."

It was Castle's luck that they didn't get a lead until half eight. Tristan had made himself too many enemies working with drugs and all of them would've loved to see him dead yet everyone claimed to have an alibi and so far they'd all checked out.

The three detectives arrived at Castle's loft at nine and were greeted by the happy chatter of his guests and by some Christmas music.

"You made it!" he rejoiced when he opened the door. Ryan and Espo strolled right into the loft, lifting glasses filled with Eggnog from the trays carried by some lovely young ladies and also gentleman.

"We did indeed," Beckett responded to Castle before she too walked into the room.

There were a lot of guests she didn't know but both Castle's publisher/ex-wife and his agent were there and both were eyeing her suspiciously.

"Do the know anything?" she whispered to Castle who naturally looked right over at them and made Beckett want to slap him.

"Who? Gina and Paula? Nah, they've been asking themselves the same question for about three years now if not more, they're not getting any closer. Eggnog?" he asked and handed her a glass. She happily accepted and clinked her glass to his and then sipped from the Eggnog.

The next thing she did was sputter and cough because the Eggnog was not only very strong but also a bit disgusting.

"Castle, what is this? Poison?"

"I made it…"

"Oh…I…I'm sorry. But…I'm guessing it's the first time you made it yourself?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Well detected, Detective Beckett," he replied and took a sip himself, making a face when he swallowed.

"You're right, it is disgusting. Hang on, let me just get the real one, not the experiment," he said and disappeared in the crowd.

Beckett rid herself of her coat that she was still wearing and when she turned around to go after Castle her path was blocked by of ex-wife and ex something and both stared at her with raised eyebrows and a very sceptic look on their faces.


	12. Day 12 Cider

_**A/N:** While I was writing the other chapter I realised that Eggnog and Cider could make a good connection from one night to the other so it's basically the same party but the next day ;D_

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**Day 12 – Cider**

Beckett wasn't a woman who got intimidates, she was the one who intimidated others but these two women together actually almost made her sweat a bit because now Beckett had a secret to hide that these two would love to know about.

"Hi…" she chocked and the two women greeted her back.

"So…you and Castle," Paula frankly stated.

"What about me and Castle?"

"You're an item now?"

"How do you come to such a conclusion?"

"He's a lot happier than normally. Content, actually keeping up with his writing schedule, not avoiding any of us… that can only mean one thing, a woman. And we all know that Richard Castle has had it out for you since the day he first met you."

"Uh…I'm extremely sorry Gina, if you think am to blame for your break up but I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh, I don't blame you, Kate. Ricky and I are way too different, we fight too much, it could never have worked but that's not the point. He's different and it can only be you."

"Well…I haven't noticed any difference in him but maybe he's getting used to being almost alone in the loft, maybe he's going mental now."

Both Paula and Gina looked at her like she was crazy but it didn't matter. What mattered was to keep them off the track for as long as possible and she also just wanted to kind of slip away from them.

Luckily Castle showed up shortly after with two bottles of cider.

"We've changed to cider now?"

"Well yeah, you can never go wrong with cider."

"Actually, yeah,"

"Oh Paula, don't ruin it for me," he grumbled. Paula shook her head and she and Gina disappeared in the crowd again.

"They really do suspect now…" Beckett whispered again.

"What did they tell you?"

"That you're happier than usual, that you keep up with your writing schedule which reminds me, when do you ever find time to write? We're either together at the precinct or together at home most of the time…?!"

"I write when you're asleep. I write best during the night."

"At least that explains how you never manage to get up with me."

"Not never."

"Almost never."

He nodded in agreement and they drank from their cider and started to walk around and chat to people – separately of course, no need to draw extra attention to their ever growing closeness.

It was past midnight already and people who had to go to work the next day were starting to leave so Castle decided that it was time to reveal Kate's calendar present for the eleventh (the one for the tenth was lying on his bed). He got up on the stairs and silenced everyone by clinking a spoon to his glass.

It didn't take long for the guests to look towards him and he cleared his throat before beginning.

"As you know, my Christmas parties are always connected to some fundraising as well. I've thought about this year's charity or charities for quite a while but then I had a different idea. About two years ago I helped set up a special scholarship and it's been helping a young law student getting through his university course for a year now and will help others in the future too. It was set up in the name of Johanna Beckett, my partner's mother who fought for justice every day of her life. I've had the fortune to work with Detective Beckett for more than four years now and I have learned so much through our work together and this is another way for me to say thank you again. The money raised tonight will go into Johanna Beckett's Scholarship because the last fundraising event is quite some time ago and I believe this will make someone very happy at Christmas. Thank you."

He finished and found Beckett's eyes in the crowd. He didn't have to tell her for her to know that this was her present of the day. She mouthed a quiet 'Thank you' before someone embroiled her in a conversation about the scholarship.

Richard Castle had many wealthy acquaintances and a lot of them were at the party so the checks flew in constantly and Beckett was once again overwhelmed by Castle's talent of making her life more beautiful every day. It wasn't until about two in the morning that she managed to finally get to him and really thank him. Well, not the way she wanted to but she held out her hand and he knew what it meant. The handshake didn't go unnoticed by Paula but there was nothing she could read from it except a genuine thank you to a man who'd raised money for a good cause.

It took about another hour for all the guests to leave and once they were all gone – Ryan and Esposito were the last ones to leave – Castle and Beckett fell down on the sofa.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she yawned and then leaned in to kiss him.

"You're welcome."

Her yawning was infectious and as soon as their lips parted he went for a big yawn too.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand, "let's go to bed."

"Mhm," Beckett mumbled and hand in hand they walked to his bedroom.

On the bed lay a red and white and green Christmas jumper with stars and reindeers and trees all over and even though she was pretty exhausted, Beckett had to laugh.

"Why do I get the feeling this one's for me?"

"Because it is. It's yesterdays present. So you don't ever get cold when you're here – or at your place if you want to take it home."

Kate was so tired now and she had a bit too much cider that she giggled and leaned down to pick the jumper up. She put it on over everything she was wearing and delightfully looked at Castle.

"It's very comfy," she proclaimed, took her trousers off and lay down on the bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was already sound asleep.


End file.
